In a match that featured a significant gap in both average age and experience, the difference on the night proved far narrower as Indy Eleven defeated Chicago Fire FC II 1-0 on Wednesday night at SeatGeek Stadium in the Third Round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
With just one league win each so far in 2024, a trip to the Round of 32 awaited as a potential boost for either team.
Fire II named just one senior player, 20-year-old Javier Casas, Jr., in the starting XI to which head coach Ludo Taillandier made two changes from the team’s 5-5 draw with New York Red Bulls II last weekend in MLS NEXT Pro play.
Indy Eleven’s lineup included former Fire forward Elliot Collier (54 appearances in four seasons) and current Fire loanee Laurence Wootton, as head coach Sean McAuley made seven changes after losing at home to the Charleston Battery last time out.
The young Fire II group showed good early energy, but they collapsed defensively in the fourth minute, as Indy’s Jack Blake slid an easy through ball behind the Fire backline for Douglas Martinez to run on to and smash past Patrick Los.
“We want to start well and strong in every game because that’s your moment of unbalancing the opponent and trying to get ahead in the game, not letting any team settle into a rhythm,” Eleven head coach Sean McAuley said.
“We wanted to start hard and fast, and I thought that’s what we did,” Collier added.
Fire II offered a few bright moments in their efforts to chase the game, most notably through the work of David Tchetchao down the right wing, but failed to produce any great opportunities. Martinez nearly doubled his tally in the 38th minute but blazed a shot over Los’ goal from 15 yards out. The USL Championship side took the one-goal lead into the break.
“I thought we were excellent in the first 20, 30 minutes of the first half and could have gone more than 1-0 up,” McAuley said.
Fire II made two halftime changes, with Sergio Oregel, Jr. swapping places with fellow first-teamer Casas, Jr., and Giovanni Granda replacing Tchetchao. While the young Fire continued to explore ways to create chances, control of the play remained steady with Indy.
Their control didn’t yield many chances, however, as Fire II came closer to equalizing than Indy did to grow their lead. The clock ultimately ran down on the game and on Fire II’s Open Cup adventure as the visitors advanced to the round where the seven Major League Soccer teams participating will enter the competition.
“I think the biggest thing for us is the clean sheet,” said Collier, as Indy Eleven has conceded 15 goals in just six USL-C games this season. “We’ve been scoring goals every game, and enough goals to win the game but we’ve been giving up too many goals.”
Added McAuley: “It was a bit touchy at the end but that’s adversity that we’ve gone through and kept a clean sheet. So, all in all, we’re in the next round.”